Queso Fundido Sonorense con Chorizo y Rajas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8-inch clay cazuela or small cast iron skillet for baking
• •10-inch cast iron skillet for the chorizo and rajas
• •Tongs for turning the poblanos over the flame
• •Cast iron comal for warming the flour tortillas
• •Box grater

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the poblanos

   Set the chiles poblanos directly over an open gas flame on high, or under a broiler turned to its highest setting. Turn them with tongs every minute or so until the skin is blackened and blistered on every side. The chile should look ruined. That is what you want. Drop the charred poblanos into a bowl, cover tightly with a plate or plastic wrap, and let them sweat for ten minutes. The trapped heat loosens the skin from the flesh.

   Do not rinse the chiles under water to remove the skin. Water washes away the smoky oils that the fire just put there. Rub the skin off with a paper towel or your fingers. A few black flecks left behind are good. They are flavor, not dirt.
2. 2

   Cut the rajas

   Once the poblanos are cool enough to handle, peel off the blackened skin. Stem them, slit them open, and scrape out the seeds and white veins. Slice the flesh into strips about a quarter-inch wide. These are your rajas. In Sonora the rajas are cut wider than they are in central Mexico, generous, not delicate. The poblano carries the dish.

3. 3

   Render the chorizo

   Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium. Add the chorizo, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for six to eight minutes, until the fat renders out red and the meat darkens at the edges. Good chorizo will release a generous pool of orange-red fat. That is achiote and chile working. Do not drain it. Use a slotted spoon to lift the cooked chorizo into a small bowl, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet.

4. 4

   Cook the rajas with onion

   Add the tablespoon of manteca to the chorizo fat in the skillet. Add the sliced onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for five minutes, until the onion turns translucent and starts to take on color at the edges. Add the minced garlic and the poblano rajas. Cook another three minutes, stirring, until everything smells sweet and toasted. Stir in the oregano, crumbling it between your fingers as it goes in. Taste for salt. Pull the rajas off the heat and into a bowl. Wipe the skillet clean.

5. 5

   Layer the queso fundido

   Heat the oven to 400F. In an 8-inch cazuela of clay or a small cast iron skillet, layer half the Oaxaca and half the asadero on the bottom. Scatter half the rajas and half the chorizo over the cheese. Repeat with the remaining cheese, then the remaining rajas and chorizo across the top. The Sonora way is layered, not stirred. Each spoonful that comes out should pull a little of everything.

   Pre-shredded supermarket cheese will not work. It is coated in cellulose to keep the strands separate, and it melts into a grainy puddle instead of the long, elastic pull you want. Buy the cheese whole and shred it yourself. No me vengas con atajos.
6. 6

   Bake until bubbling

   Slide the cazuela into the hot oven and bake for ten to twelve minutes. The cheese should be fully melted, glossy across the top, with browned bubbling spots where the chorizo fat has risen up through it. The edges should be deep gold and starting to crisp against the clay. Pull it out the moment you see those darkened edges. The cheese will keep cooking from the residual heat of the cazuela.

7. 7

   Warm the tortillas and serve

   While the cheese bakes, heat a comal over medium-high. Warm the flour tortillas one at a time, about thirty seconds per side, until they are pliable and softly blistered. Stack them in a cloth servilleta to keep them warm. Bring the cazuela straight to the table on a wooden trivet. Set the salsa and lime alongside. Each person tears a tortilla open, scoops a generous spoonful of the molten cheese, the rajas, and the chorizo into the center, rolls it up, and eats it immediately. Eat it now. Queso fundido that sits ten minutes turns into a chewy, sad puck. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy your cheese from a Mexican market or a deli that cuts the wheel for you. Pre-shredded bagged cheese is treated with anti-caking starch that ruins the melt. Queso Oaxaca should pull apart in long ropes when you tear it. Asadero should slice cleanly and feel slightly springy.
• •Sonoran chorizo is different from Toluca chorizo. If you can find chorizo sonorense, use it. Otherwise a good fresh Mexican chorizo rojo will do the job. Spanish cured chorizo is not a substitute. It is a different ingredient entirely and it will not render the same way.
• •Roast the poblanos over an open flame if you have a gas stove. The smoky char from direct fire is part of the dish. A broiler works but it is the second-best option. Boiling or microwaving the chiles is not roasting and the result tastes flat.
• •Make the flour tortillas yourself if you have the time. Real tortillas de harina sonorense use lard, not vegetable shortening, and they are stretched paper-thin by hand. The supermarket flour tortilla is a different food. La manteca es el sabor.

Advance Preparation

• •The rajas can be roasted, peeled, and sliced one day ahead and refrigerated. The flavor actually improves overnight as the smoke deepens.
• •The chorizo can be rendered one day ahead and stored in the refrigerator with its fat. Rewarm gently before assembling.
• •The cheese should be shredded fresh on the day you cook. Shredded cheese left overnight dries at the edges and the melt suffers.
• •Once the cazuela goes into the oven, queso fundido is a now-or-never dish. Do not bake it ahead. Reheated melted cheese turns rubbery and the magic is gone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 335g)